Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the work of contemporary Nigerian women filmmakers – directors and producers like Kemi Adetiba, Funke Akindele, Omoni Oboli, Tope Oshin, Mosunmola Abudu - and their role in reshaping the future of Nollywood film industry and African cinema.

Paper long abstract:

Prompted by lively creativity and independent cultural entrepreneurship, Nigerian film industry became in the last decades the second largest film industry in the world, after Bollywood and before Hollywood, producing around 2500 films each year and reaching global resonance. In this paper I focus on how Nigerian women filmmakers (directors, producers, actors) are using different media platforms (Netflix, Iroko TV, Facebook and Instagram) to act as cultural entrepreneurs. Following the footsteps of Amaka Igwe, one of the first woman director of the Nollywood Video era, women directors and producers are becoming key creative entrepreneurs in the Digital Nollywood industry, gaining space and reclaiming power in a traditionally men-dominated media field. Their work in commercially successful films and tv series is contributing to change industrial dynamics as well as gender representations and stereotypes.

In the paper I am addressing the following questions: What are the circulation networks for Nigerian film cultures in present media configurations? How have they changed in the last thirty years with digital technologies becoming integrated in the production and distribution processes? How do Nigerian women filmmakers, directors and producers use streaming and social media platforms to act as cultural entrepreneurs and reconfigure the structures and dynamics of Nigerian film industry? Which is the role played by global streaming platforms (mainly Netflix) and African streaming platforms (IrokoTV, ShowMax) in the circulation of contemporary Nigerian cinema? Which is the role of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram in the entrepreneurial strategy of Nigerian women filmmakers?